


girl, why can't you just be honest (with yourself)

by hearden



Series: addicted but trying to quit [2]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Angst, Cheating, F/F, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 10:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14163156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearden/pseuds/hearden
Summary: A few weeks after Kat moved to Angel Grove, a monster attack sends Kim spiraling straight into her arms.(inspired by he'll never love you by hayley kiyoko, a sequel to "but don't you worry" aka the kimkat curious au)





	girl, why can't you just be honest (with yourself)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [necking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/necking/gifts).



> i'm just rly leaning into the shittiness that was kim's characterization in the movie at this point like ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> reboot kat is still 100% zendaya and also bc bargalaxies asked, reboot tommy in this fic would be booboo stewart
> 
> tomberly is mentioned a few times but since it's not as focused as the first fic, i decided not to tag it
> 
>  **specific warnings:** cheating, underage drinking, and also some mention of blood, needles, and stitching

Somehow, Kat manages to make it to finals in one piece after The Incident™ at Kim's house weeks prior. She does her best to avoid Kim, interact as minimally as possibly with Tommy and the others, and straight up act like she doesn't know what the hard looks Trini gives her at lunch when nobody else is looking mean. Truthfully, she kinda finds it amusing, like if someone snapped a photo of their lunch table when Zack cracks a bad joke and everyone laughs, Kat would label it  _ Top Ten Pictures Taken Before A Disaster. _

Her parents don't know the full story because Kat doesn't have the heart to break the news to them. They'd been expecting her to be enthusiastic about moving to Angel Grove -- as fate would have it -- where her longtime  _ girlfriend _ lived, but, instead, Kat tells them, she and Kim broke up. Her mum tries to weasel the truth out of her, but Kat shuts her out with a heavy heart. It hurts her to do so, but she doesn't want her mum to worry about her.

The thing about being in a friend group is that mostly everyone gets dragged along to all the same outings, so even when Kim doesn't extend an invitation to her, someone else -- usually one of the boys because they don't  _ know _ \-- does. It's how she ends up at a Starbucks with the other six on a Sunday at sunset, sipping on a mocha latte that she wishes had a side of whiskey.

Billy had invited her, and it just felt  _ wrong _ to say no to Billy, really.

It makes her feel a tiny bit better to think about the fact that Kim suffers, too, every time she goes out with the group.

They're bored and ready to  _ not _ go home and start studying for finals starting tomorrow when there's a loud  _ crash _ outside and a car alarm blares to life. A "What the hell--" is halfway out of Kat's mouth, but then Trini bolts out of her seat and tackles her aside, three tables away, and Kat doesn't even have time to process what just  _ happened. _

Right where their table used to be, surrounded by the shattered remains of the Starbucks window, is the front half of some poor citizen's sedan, crushed into a deformed, unrecognizable, metal ball, so much that Kat can only tell it used to be a shade of midnight blue. "What--" Kat frantically glances around, looking for her friends, and finds that all of them had gotten clear of the window in time. She would question it, but her mind is racing too fast and her heart is pounding loudly in her ears, for her to make sense of how all six of them had seen the car coming for the window and she hadn't.

"Are you okay?" Trini asks, her voice grim, glancing Kat over, "Anything got cut?"

"No, no, I'm fine," she says, breathlessly, "What's--"

" _ Power Rangers! _ " A harsh roar comes from outside, and Kat feels the ground vibrate underneath her body as a--

"Oh, my God," she gasps, clamping a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. In theory, she'd heard about the Power Rangers fighting off monsters in Angel Grove  _ before, _ but things had been thankfully quiet since she had moved to town so the fact had disappeared to the back of Kat's mind.

The monster peeks through the broken window. Kat can't tell if it even has eyes, but she suddenly wants to look away, her skin crawling at the idea that it's  _ staring _ at all of them.  _ " _ I know you're in here," the monster growls, "Rita was very unhappy when you took the Green Ranger from her. I think it's only fair I take someone else from you--"

A black blur only barely registers in Kat's periphery, slamming into the monster, and it stumbles back, yelling out in pain. When the blur stops, the Black Ranger stands tall, his arms crossed. A stern, but oddly familiar, voice rings out, echoing from his metal helmet, "You're not taking  _ anyone _ today."

Before the monster can respond, the Black Ranger attacks it, his limbs a flurry of kicks and punches. When there's a brief moment to breathe, he turns to the patrons of the Starbucks, yelling, "Go! Out the back, now!"

Kat blinks, frozen, and it takes Trini dragging her to her feet by her arm. "Come on!"

"Wait," she says, glancing around as Jason herds her to the exit with a gentle hand on her back, 'Where's-- where's Zack?"

"He's, uh, ahead of us," Jason says, quickly.

Kat stumbles out into the back alley behind the cafe, immediately mingling with the few dozen other people frantically escaping. She can hear screams of people from the surrounding shops and restaurants and the sounds of breaking glass and car alarms going off. The hand on her back disappears, and Kat whirls around. "Jason?" she calls out, but she can't even see Billy's tall frame in the crowd.

"Billy? Trini? Zack?" When there's no response, Kat starts trying to make her way past people to find her friends, the two names that she doesn't want to say worriedly on the edge of her lips.

"Hey!" Kat looks up in the direction of where the new voice had come from and sees the Pink Ranger perched on the roof of the Starbucks, looking down at them. Other people around her glance up, too, the crowd buzzing at the appearance of another Ranger. Kat hears a phone camera shutter click and fights the urge to tell whatever moron did that should be more worried about their life right now when the danger is still  _ very _ present. 

"You're welcome," the Pink Ranger says, dryly, in response to the camera click, and something  _ familiar _ nags at the back of Kat's mind, but she can't quite put her finger on it. "You all need to get out of here right now. We're trying to keep the monster contained to this street, so take this alley out to Barker and keep south from there, okay?"

Nobody moves.

The Pink Ranger holds her right hand out, and a bow materializes in it, sharp, pink, and deadly. In her left hand, an arrow appears as well, and she nocks it into place. "Go!" she orders, "I'll be right above you the entire time."

Hastily, people start moving in the direction of Barker Street, pushing and elbowing each other despite the fact that things would go easier if they all just  _ didn't _ do that. Kat suffers through someone jabbing her in the side and lets them pass, distracted by looking up at the Pink Ranger every few seconds. An explosion sounds out, and the Pink Ranger fires off an arrow into the distance. She must hit whatever she's aiming at because a loud, agitated roar pierces the air. The Pink Ranger looks down at the crowd in the alley beneath her, and Kat has an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach that she's looking right at her. "It's okay," she says, "I'm right here. Keep going." As the crowd makes their way through the back alleys, the Pink Ranger follows along on the rooftops, jumping from one to another with ease. Her presence makes Kat feel slightly better about her  _ first _ brush with monsters in Angel Grove, even if she's still kinda worried about where the  _ hell _ her friends are.

The crowd flows out onto Barker Street, some people immediately breaking out into a run for -- well, Kat doesn't know where, but she stops to think before running off. She'd come in Jason's truck, which was parked in front of the Starbucks, so that's out of the question. She could walk, but she doesn't know where to.

"You need to get out of here," the Pink Ranger says from the roof above her, "It's not safe."

Someone brushes by her, but Kat knows without asking that, even amongst others, the Pink Ranger's words are directed at her. "I have to find my friends," she protests, "They're-- I don't know where they are--"

"Your friends are fine," the Pink Ranger says, shaking her head, "It's not  _ safe _ here."

"I  _ need _ to find them--"

" _ Kat, _ " the Pink Ranger says, sharply, looking right at her, and Kat freezes. How… "They're fine. Trust me. The other Rangers got them away to safety. Now,  _ you _ need to go."

Kat opens her mouth to ask  _ how, _ but then a crash attracts her attention. From the rooftop of the Starbucks, the monster leaps up, charging right for the Pink Ranger. The other Rangers are on its tail but aren't nearly fast enough, a blur of colors in the night.

"Shit, go! Get out of here!" The Pink Ranger summons another arrow and shoots it directly at the monster, but it only slows it down for a fraction of a second, not enough to stop what happens next. The monster barrels right into the Pink Ranger, and they go falling to the ground below.

Kat scrambles away, ducking behind a car parked against the curb to protect herself from the dust and debris as the monster and the Pink Ranger crash into the asphalt. The Pink Ranger screams, and Kat's blood runs cold. Warily, she peeks around the boot of the car. The Yellow Ranger bodyslams the monster, knocking it off of the Pink Ranger, who stays on the ground, writhing in pain. Before the monster can recover, the Yellow Ranger is on it in a flash, aggressively attacking it without seemingly any kind of strategy besides  _ wreck it. _ The Green and Red Rangers join her, surrounding the monster in a triangle of offensive manoeuvres. The Black and Blue Rangers help the Pink Ranger up, draping her arms over their shoulders, and lead her into the alleyway Kat had just come out of, setting her down on the ground. She sits up against the wall, clutching at her side. They're all talking, but Kat can't hear them from across the street. The Pink Ranger makes a waving motion with her hand and Kat can understand that, however. Reluctantly, the Black and Blue Rangers run back into the battle, joining the others in fighting the monster.

Unsure of what she's supposed to be doing, Kat keeps watching, naturally intrigued by seeing the Power Rangers up close. She  _ should _ be running. Maybe she'd thought too soon earlier for mentally chastising whoever took a picture of the Pink Ranger. Heroes in the flesh… was something fascinating.

Then, the Pink Ranger's armor dematerializes, and Kat's eyes widen.

Oh.

Oh, shit.

That makes a  _ lot _ of sense.

"Kim?" she asks, her jaw dropping. It must be some sort of superhuman hearing or something that Kim has because she immediately  _ looks _ at her, her face going straight into an "oh, fuck" expression.

Urgently, Kim waves her over with her free hand, and Kat glances at where the other Rangers have successfully driven the monster further down the street from where they are then scrambles over to Kim, keeping her head low.

"What the  _ hell _ are you still doing here?" Kim hisses the moment she comes into hearing range, wincing while she speaks, "I  _ told _ you to get out." Kat kneels down in front of her and gives her a once-over. There's blood seeping out from between Kim's fingers where her hand is pressed against her wound.

"Well, I don't  _ listen _ to you," she snaps.

"You didn't even  _ know _ it was me," Kim argues back, gritting her teeth together when she tries to sit up straighter. Instead, she  _ thumps _ her head back against the wall. A small crack appears in the brick above Kim's head.

"You're-- you're hurt," Kat says, her voice trembling. It didn't  _ seem _ real to her before -- a Ranger getting hurt. She's not attached to them; they're just the saviors of the city or whatever, but this is… this is  _ Kim, _ and suddenly, it's all too very, very real.

"I'm fine," Kim forces out, but the way that her jaw is clenched says she's not.

"We dated for years, Kim. I know when you're lying to me."

Kim scoffs, "Obviously not  _ all _ the time. There's a lot of things you don't know." Kat's eyes darken, and Kim uncomfortably shifts, frowning. "I'm sorry," she mumbles, "That wasn't fair."

"What wasn't fair?" Kat can't stop herself from using a biting tone, "That comment or leading me on for who knows how long?"

Kim doesn't say anything and looks away.

Kat sighs and reaches out, her hands hovering over Kim's side, "Here, let me see."

"It'll heal," Kim counters.

"Let me  _ see. _ "

Relenting, Kim lifts her hand, her fingers coming away dark red. There's a gash across her right side from just below her chest to the bottom of her ribs.

Kat brings a hand to her mouth to stop herself from gasping in shock. She doesn't mean to, but tears well up in her eyes. Given everything, Kim is still a human being, no matter what she did to hurt her. Kim is still her  _ friend, _ even if it's in the absolute most deconstructed sense of the word.

"It's not that bad," Kim mutters, her voice somber as she sees the tears in Kat's eyes, "Like, it's not deep, I swear."

"We can stop the bleeding--" Kat starts, her mind going straight into  _ doing _ mode, but Kim holds up a hand to stop her.

" _ We? _ I can heal faster than regular humans, Kat, it's fine.  _ You _ need to get out of here--"

"Tell me what to do  _ again, _ and I'll stab you with a bobby pin."

Kim pauses, raising her eyebrows.

"I didn't mean that," Kat says, sheepishly, "Just came out."

Kim chuckles, closing her eyes to hide the fact that that caused her more pain in her side, but Kat can still tell in the way her body tenses, "Sure sounded like you did." Kim sighs then reaches into her pocket with her free hand, pulling out her car keys, "I have a first aid kit in my glove compartment. You know which one's mine."

Kat grabs the keys from her, their fingers brushing together but she shuts down the thought before her mind can take it any further, "Okay. Stay here."

"I'm not going anywhere, obviously," Kim huffs, rolling her eyes.

Kat rushes through the alley, coming out next to the ruins of the Starbucks she'd just been in a mere half an hour ago. First it was that Krispy Kreme, and now, this Starbucks. Angel Grove was going to run out of nice shops soon at this rate. The street in front of her is in ruins, broken glass and crushed pieces of cars lining the cracked concrete. Kim's car had come out of it just fine, luckily, and Kat runs to it, hastily unlocking it and grabbing the first aid kit from the glove compartment. She returns to Kim who only looks more exhausted than when Kat had left.

"You got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kat sets the first aid kit down and puts one hand on Kim's back to support her, "Here, you need to lie down."

"What are you gonna do?" Kim asks, gritting her teeth as she moves away from the wall and lays down. With some difficulty, she bunches her shirt up to right under her chest to give Kat room to look at the gash.

"Uh," Kat opens the kit and glances through it -- everything she needs is thankfully in there, "I'm gonna close up your wound, of course."

"Just-- fucking superglue it shut," Kim mutters, breathing through her nose, "I read it online. It works."

"You're an idiot," Kat replies, dabbing some disinfectant on a cotton pad, "Remove your hand. This is gonna hurt a bit."

Kim lifts her hand, "What's gonna hurt--  _ Fuck! _ " She slams her fist into the ground, leaving a bloodied dent in the concrete, and Kat whistles under her breath, glad that Kim hadn't decided to punch her in the arm or something. Kim breathes out of her nose, huffing, "Jesus, you couldn't have given me a warning?"

"I… did."

Kim doesn't look over as Kat prepares the needle holder, just stares at what she can see of the night sky. "You know I don't like needles," she says, her voice strained.

Kat pauses. If she didn't know any better, it almost sounds like Kim is… Against her better judgement, she reaches out for Kim's free, clean hand, holding it for a moment and rubbing her thumb along the back of Kim's palm. "I know," she says, softly, "I'm right here."

The wound is gross to look at, and Kat doesn't have any actual experience with stitching anything besides clothes and stuffed animals, but she tries her best, forcing herself to stay calm. Kim isn't doing any better than her, though, if her barely subdued breathing is any indication.

"You know," Kim murmurs as Kat is halfway through closing the wound, "One of Mr. Woofer's ears is falling off. Maybe you can take care of him next."

Kat chuckles, closing her eyes for a moment against the wave of nostalgia that rushes over her, "Yeah, I'd love to."

The rest of the time, Kat works in silence, only pausing to give Kim's hand a brief, reassuring squeeze when she can feel Kim start to get too anxious. When she's done, Kat snips the extra thread and puts the tools into a small plastic bag to for cleaning later.

"All done?" Kim asks, quietly.

"Yeah."

Kim gazes at her like  _ that _ \-- like she  _ used to _ \-- and Kat's stomach flips. She knows what's coming. "I'm sorry," Kim repeats.

Her eyes are so soft, so brown and beautiful, that Kat just wants to believe that, wants to accept two words as an apology that's  _ infinitely _ less than she deserves, but Kat shakes her head and snaps herself out of it, closing the first aid kit with a clean  _ zip. _ "No," she says, firmly, "You're not doing that to me again."

"Kat--"

"If you wanna start making amends," Kat interrupts, "Then start by telling Tommy --  _ and _ the others -- the truth."

Kim swallows and slowly nods, "Okay, if that's what you want--"

Kat rolls her eyes, scoffing, "Do you hear yourself? It's not about what  _ I _ want or about what  _ you _ want. It's about what's  _ right. _ Do it not because you think it's gonna get you into my pants again. Do it because it puts you on the path to becoming a better fucking person."

Kim opens her mouth to say something, but right then, a shadow falls over them both -- or, well, many shadows. Kat glances up to see the other Rangers standing at the end of the alley, some dirt and a couple of scrapes on their armor, but besides that, looking a lot better than Kim probably feels.

"Uh…" the Red Ranger, who at this point, Kat assumes is probably one of the boys, pauses.

Kim struggles to sit up, using Kat's arm as support. "It's okay, Jason," she says, quietly gasping in pain, "She saw me demorph."

After a moment passes, the other Rangers glance at each other then, when Jason nods, all five demorph, but this time, Kat isn't surprised to see the rest of her friends standing there.

"There's a lot of things you don't know," Kim murmurs, low enough so that only she can hear, and it all starts to click together her head.

 

-

 

The Rangers bring her back to this ship underground and introduce her to a head in the wall -- which is, admittedly, way weirder than the fact that her friends are the  _ Power Rangers _ \-- and an android named Alpha. Zordon swears her to secrecy, and the Rangers seem a little uncomfortable as if they're waiting for him to drop the other shoe or something, but he just dismisses them.

Kim is ordered on bedrest by Alpha, even though finals are here. She gets a "doctor's note" as a special case to take her finals the following week, so Kat doesn't see her for the rest of the school semester. The Rangers, namely and mostly Tommy, do visit Kim at home, but Kat doesn't tag along, even though they'll extend an invitation to her every day. Being apart of their friend group is, surprisingly, not at all awkward now that she knows their secret. Maybe that's why it feels like it's easier to live in Angel Grove, now, or maybe it's the fact that she's finally let go of Kim.

Well, maybe not entirely.

Trini finds her the weekend after finals at the bar at Rudy's, a glass of whiskey in front of her.

"You know," Trini says in a hushed voice as she sits down at the stool next to Kat, "You're not legal."

Kat shrugs, "I  _ have been _ in Australia."

Trini scoffs, "Hell of a convincing fake ID, then." She nods at Kat's drink, "Is that doing what it wants for you?"

Kat frowns. She doesn't get how Trini can just read her like that. "No," she mutters, frowning, and takes another sip. It burns like the way she wants Kim's lips to feel against her skin. "I want to go back in time before any of this shit happened."

"Yeah, that's fair," Trini flags down the bartender for a club soda, "You hear the news?"

She has. She's in one of -- since she knows they probably have one for just themselves, being Rangers and all -- the Rangers' group chats. "Yeah. I don't know if that was stupid or brave of her to come out with that right after finals."

"Winter break's gonna suck," Trini says with a sigh.

"For her or for him?"

"For you," Trini says, and Kat finally looks at her, "Well, for him, too. All of us."

Kat picks up her glass and swirls the rest of the whiskey around, watching its movement, "Does Zordon know? Does this, like, affect Kim being a Ranger? I don't know how this stuff works."

"No, it doesn't," Trini replies without hesitation, "I mean… What she did was shitty, and to be honest, Tommy wasn't the first guy. There was this falling out, to put it nicely, that she had with Ty Fleming and Amanda Clark--"

"I don't wanna know," Kat interrupts.

"Understandable." Trini sighs and runs a hand through her hair, "Look, we were chosen as Power Rangers  _ despite _ whatever shit we did in the past because of what we have inside us. Because we're good people and we'll fight like hell to protect the world against evil like Rita Repulsa."

Kat snorts, but she doesn't say anything sarcastic in reply. She drains the rest of her glass and sets it down, hard, against the countertop. "I hope she doesn't forget that, then."

**Author's Note:**

> title from He'll Never Love You (HNLY) - Hayley Kiyoko which uhhhh fucking destroyed me thanks for coming to my funeral
> 
> disclaimer: kat definitely did not disinfect kim's wound right but also she had limited materials and time and it's hollywood so w/e


End file.
